Joni Ernst burst onto the national scene with a commercial boasting of her experience castrating hogs on an Iowa farm so it comes as little surprise that the newly elected Senator had a couple memorable lines during her acceptance speech.

Ernst beat her Democratic opponent Bruce Braley and after calling him a "worthy opponent" she dove back to her Iowan roots.

"It’s a long way from Red Oak to Washington, from the biscuit line at Hardee's to the United States Senate," she said. "But, thanks to all of you we are heading to Washington. And we are going to make ‘em squeal."

Aside from that passing reference to her time with the hogs on the farm, Ernst was determined to reiterate the importance of the Iowan values she was raised with, including "honesty, service, and hard work."

The most important lesson about the value of a dollar came from her mother who drove the point home with plastic bread bags.

"You see, growing up I only had one good pair of shoes and so on those rainy school days, my mom would slip plastic bread bags over my shoes, to keep them clean and dry-- you know what I’m talking about," she said to the friendly crowd.

"And you know what, it wasn't high fashion, but I was never embarrassed and it worked, and it worked," she said. "So it wasn't high fashion, and you know I wasn't embarrassed, because every day when it rained and I got on the school bus, there were rows and rows and rows of other kids just like me with plastic bread bags tied to their feet."